The National Food Authority (NFA) said it will ask for a budget of up to P27 billion for 2026.
NFA Administrator Larry Lacson told reporters in a briefing on Wednesday the P27 billion budget will be enough to achieve a 15-day rice buffer stock equivalent to 900,000 metric tons (MT) of palay that will be purchased from local farmers.
He explained that for 2025, the NFA got P17 billion, with P8 billion carried over from 2023’s available funds and P9 billion actually allocated for 2024.
“What’s still left for my procurement fund for this coming harvest season, is around P9.8 billion. So, that is still enough to buy palay in the next harvest and we don’t have a problem in sourcing funds to procure local palay,” Lacson said.
Earlier this year, the Department of Agriculture (DA), NFA’s mother agency, said the NFA would need bigger funding to increase the national rice buffer stock.
Last month, the NFA’s buffer stock hit 7.17 million 50-kilogram bags of milled rice, considered to be the agency’s highest inventory level since the end of 2020. The volume was deemed enough to feed the entire nation for 9.36 days and was attained due to higher buying prices for palay that averaged P27/kg in 2024, and about P24/kg in 2025.
DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., concurrent chair of the NFA Council, the highest policy-making body of the grains agency, earlier said the NFA’s palay procurement should ideally account for up to 20 percent of the country’s total domestic production at about 4 million metric tons (MMT), compared with the current rate of about 3 to 4 percent.
Tiu Laurel also wanted the NFA to get back its powers to influence palay pricing, by purchasing more local rice, which would boost local farmers’ profits.
Based on the DA’s monitoring of public markets in the National Capital Region, local well-milled rice sold for P38 to P48 per kg on Tuesday, May 20, while regular milled rice went for P33 to P43 per kg.
Imported well-milled rice was selling for P40 to P48 per kg while the price of imported regular-milled rice ranged from P35 to P45 per kg.
Special-variety imported rice fetched P55 to P61 and premium rice, P43 to P55.
Special-variety local rice was selling for P50 to P65 per kg while premium rice went for P44 to P60 per kg.
These varieties are priced based on regular market forces and are not subsidized.
